Attentional selection predicts rapid automatized naming ability in Chinese-speaking children with ADHD

Encong Wang,Meirong Sun,Yufeng Wang,Ye Tao,Li Sun,Xiaoyi Gao,Zhanliang Wu,Hui Li,Qiujin Qian,Chenguang Zhao,Yan Song,Jialiang Guo

doi:10.1038/s41598-017-01075-x

Abstract

Children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) are reported to have a significantly higher risk of showing reading difficulties or disorders. Here, we aimed to identify the relationship between electroencephalographic (EEG) marker of spatial attention and reading ability in Chinese children with ADHD. First, we demonstrated that rapid automatized naming (RAN) is a strong predictor of reading ability in Chinese-speaking children. Then, EEG data of 9-to 15-year-old children with ADHD (n = 38) and typically developing (TD) controls (n = 36) were collected while the children performed a classical visual search task. Children with ADHD showed slower RAN speed than TD children. For event-related potentials (ERPs), children with ADHD showed a reduced target-evoked N2pc component, which predicted their poorer RAN performance. However, in TD children the early occipital P1 amplitude was negatively correlated with their RAN performance. The correlation between decreased N2pc and poor RAN performance in children with ADHD suggests that their reading problems may in part be due to impaired attentional selection. In contrast, in TD children, development in early visual processing co-occurs with improvements in reading ability.

Highlights

Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), one of the most prevalent neuro-developmental disorders diagnosed in childhood and adolescence, is characterized by inattention and/or hyperactivity/impulsivity
Recent event-related potentials (ERPs) evidence suggests that reading ability is positively correlated with the amplitude of the P1 component in healthy adults, suggesting that reading has a substantial impact on the magnitude, precision, and invariance of early visual processing, as early as ~100–150 ms in the visual cortex[25]
In children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) only, that the aberrant modulation amplitude in the target-evoked N2pc and rapid automatized naming (RAN) performance were correlated, indicating that poor reading ability in ADHD is at least in part related to attentional problems, possibly arising from deficits in attentional selection

Summary

Introduction

Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), one of the most prevalent neuro-developmental disorders diagnosed in childhood and adolescence, is characterized by inattention and/or hyperactivity/impulsivity. 5 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 reading fluency scores alpha and frontal theta activity as well as their functional disconnection in response to a cue in children with ADHD15–17 These EEG results imply the possible occurrence of spatial attention impairments in ADHD. There were significant correlations between N2pc parameters and ADHD symptom severity These studies imply that these signals of visual-spatial attention may serve as potential candidates for neurophysiological markers of ADHD24, providing strong neurophysiological evidence that specific processes (e.g., attentional selection) in visual-spatial attention are impaired in ADHD patients. Among commonly used items (digits, letters, colours, or objects), naming fluency for alphanumeric stimuli (digits and letters) in particular remains a strong predictor of reading ability[33] that persists into adulthood[34] This tendency has been confirmed in Chinese readers[35, 36]

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